Skip to main content

How are Mediators similar to Robin Hood?

By
Robin shoots with sir Guy
by Louis Rhead 1912
Mediation, as a service option, has grown significantly over the last 30 years.  This is one of the topics of an upcoming article in the ABA's Dispute Resolution Magazine for which I was interviewed.  We discussed how it is easier for practitioners to be trained and for clients to find mediators today than it used to be.  However, there is still one place where mediation continues to lag behind resolution of disputes through court litigation: the price.

Lower cost is often a motivating factor for people seeking to resolve disputes through mediation.  Because less time (and therefore money) is spent on court dates, discovery and positional negotiation, the financial cost of mediation is often less than litigation.  For practitioners this means that we make less on a mediation case than a litigation case, and in order to succeed, mediators often have to be better at the practice of business and marketing than litigators.  To make the same amount of money we need to have more cases.  While many mediators say that they would like to be full time peacemakers, many keep a litigation practice to "pay the bills."

Robin Hood, of English folklore, was an outlaw who took from the rich to give to the poor, and this model of legal practice is essentially the same.  While I'm not equating what we do to stealing from the rich, mediators settle matters outside the legal system and many rely on their higher net fees from litigation clients to fund their mediation practice.

Like Robin Hood's gifts to the poor, this model benefits the mediation clients.  There are more mediators in practice than if we were limited to only mediation and potential clients benefit from more choice and competition in the mediation marketplace.  However, we don't have to model ourselves on Robin Hood.  While some enjoy balancing different types of practice, others find it difficult to wear two (or more) hats.  There are ways to make a peacemaking practice a full-time practice if that is what you want to do.

If you're interested in learning more about that possibility I suggest attending an upcoming workshop on June 19-20, 2015 from Woody Mosten and David Hoffman: Building a Profitable and Satisfying Peacemaking Practice: A nuts and bolts, “how to” workshop.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the purpose of the Divorce Nisi waiting period?

By
In Massachusetts the statutory waiting period after a Judgment of Divorce and before the divorce becomes final (or absolute) is called the Nisi period. After a divorce case settles or goes to trial, a Judgment of Divorce Nisi will issue and it will become Absolute after a further ninety (90) days. This waiting period serves the purpose of allowing parties to change their mind before the divorce becomes final. If the Judgment of Divorce Nisi has issued but not become final yet, and you and your spouse decide you don't want to get divorced, then you can file a Motion to Dismiss and the Judgment will be undone. Although many of my clients who are getting divorced think the idea of getting back together with their ex sounds crazy, I have had cases where this happened. In addition to offering a grace period to change your mind, the Nisi period has three other legal effects: 1. The most obvious effect of the waiting period is that you cannot remarry during the Nisi period, be
74 comments
Read more

Does a Criminal Record affect Child Custody?

By
If one of the parents in a custody case has a criminal record, the types of crimes on their record could have an effect on their chances of obtaining custody. In custody cases the issue is always going to come down to whether or not the best interests of the child might be affected. In the most extreme case, in which one parent has been convicted of first degree murder of the other parent, the law specifically prohibits visitation with the children until they are of a suitable age to assent. Similarly, but to a less serious degree, in making custody and visitation determinations the court will consider crimes that would cause one to question the fitness of a parent. These types of crimes would obviously include any violent crime convictions which could call into question whether the children would be in danger around a parent who has shown themselves to resort to violence when faced with conflict. In addition, drug and alcohol abuse offenses would call into question a parent&#
65 comments
Read more

The Questions that Lawyers and Mediators aren't asking but should: Let's talk about Pronouns

By
I recently had the opportunity to train with two of the most prominent mediators in Massachusetts: John Fiske and Diane Neumann . Each time they run a training, John and Diane share what they think is the most important question for a client to answer to have an effective mediation. John says that he thought the most important question is "What do I want?" But then he will tell you, with a knowing smile, that Diane disagreed with him and she would say that the most important question for a client to answer is "Who am I?" I agree with Diane. The best lawyers and mediators ask their clients not just about what they want, but also deep questions about the clients' identity, goals, and values in order to help the clients resolve conflict in the most effective way possible. Despite knowing this, we often fail to ask clients the simplest questions when we first meet them or have them fill out an intake. We fail to give them an opportunity to answer the question “W
2 comments
Read more